Chuck Clark was not happy when the Ravens used their first-round pick in this year's draft to select a fellow safety, Kyle Hamilton.
Clark was uncertain about his future with the franchise and requested a trade, which never came to fruition.
"Me personally, I just felt the situation that I was in, how things were going, of course, yeah I did ask, 'Can I get out of here?'" Clark said. "And so, I felt like that didn't happen and I wasn't just going to give away my spot. If I'm not going to be a starter, it's going to have to be taken from me."
Clark decided that he was going to fight for his starting job. He participated in all of the voluntary workouts and has been a steady force in training camp.
"I’m not going to give away my spot; if I’m going to not be a starter, it’s going to have to be taken from me, at the end of the day," Clark said. "So, that’s just how I felt. At the end of the day, I’m going to work, and I’m going to show up and do what I’ve got to do.”
Last season, Clark started all 16 games in which he appeared, finishing with 77 tackles (46 solo), three tackles for a loss, one sack, and one quarterback hit while adding two interceptions.
Clark, a sixth-round draft pick in 2017 from Virginia Tech, also has worn the green dot as the signal-caller for the defense.
Expectations are high for Hamilton and he's poised to make an immediate impact on the defense.
Clark admits that he was taken back by the Ravens decision to select Hamilton even though he was the easily highest player available on their board when he was available with the 14th overall pick.
“I was definitely surprised," Clark said. "I didn’t know it was going to happen, going forward, with that in the future. But right now, we’re just going with it. He’s a great guy, a great teammate to be with. So, to answer your question, I was surprised at first. I didn’t know it was going to happen.”
The Ravens plan to find ways to get Clark on the field with Hamilton and another safety Marcus Williams, who has been a welcomed addition to the secondary.
“He’s definitely a playmaker on the backend, for sure," Clark said about Williams. "There have been some things that he’s been able to teach me, and I’ve been able to teach him as well. So, it’s been cool being back there with another guy who came in the same year as me, and just to see how our paths have gone and to finally meet up again. So, it’s been cool to have him back there with me.”
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